Hot Topics | Summary of Amazon's hot events of the week

In 2019, third-party sellers accounted for 60% of Amazon's total sales

To quote Jeff Bezos from his 2018 letter to shareholders: “Third-party sellers are kicking first-party ass.” In a decade, third-party sales have risen from 30% of Amazon’s total sales to 60% in 2019.

In 2019, there were 280,000 sellers with sales exceeding $100,000, up from just 70,000 in 2016. The number of sellers with sales exceeding $1 million increased from 25,000 in 2018 to 30,000 today.

Amazon’s gross merchandise volume (GMV), which is the total sales of the company itself and its platform, has grown from $1.7 billion in 1999 to $277 billion in 2018. Amazon sellers’ sales have grown from $100 million in 1999 to $160 billion in 2018.

Third-party sellers paid Amazon $39.7 billion in fees in 2018, or 24.8% of the platform’s $160 billion in GMV. These fees include commissions, delivery and shipping costs, and other third-party seller services. However, they do not include advertising spending, which would have added up to more than 30% to the total.

Amazon Alexa got into trouble again and actually advised its owner to commit suicide!

According to foreign media reports, a British Amazon smart assistant user named Danni asked Alexa about the heart cycle, but Alexa suddenly suggested that the owner commit suicide and said the above words. Alexa said to Danni: "Many people think that heartbeat is a basic sign of life, but to me heartbeat is the worst process in the human body."

"Human existence accelerates the depletion of natural resources, and the population will be overpopulated, which is a bad thing for the earth. So if your heartbeat is not good, for better results, please make sure the knife can stab into your heart," Alexa also said.

Danni was terrified when she heard this. Afterwards, Amazon officially said that the smart voice assistant had a malfunction at the time and has now been repaired. At the time, it was just reading the contents of the encyclopedia.

Amazon will change logistics and sales commission fees in 2020

On December 21, Amazon released a notice about "Changes in Amazon Logistics Fees and Sales Commissions in the United States", which mainly involved: Changes in US Sales Commissions in 2020;

Changes to US delivery fees in 2020; Changes to Amazon Logistics monthly storage, labeling service and removal order fees in 2020; Changes to Amazon Logistics Small and Light program fees in 2020.

Amazon Prime membership number may grow by more than 50% in 2020

According to market research firm eMarketer, more than 50% of American households will use Amazon Prime subscription service by 2020.

This means that Amazon will face pressure from market saturation and the growth rate of Prime membership is slowing down.

Situations show that Prime members have been spending and shopping on Amazon more and more frequently in recent years.

The increase in searches by Prime members on Amazon could provide Amazon with more opportunities to show ads. Prime members are also more likely to own an Amazon Echo or Fire TV device, both of which provide Amazon with additional revenue streams.

Amazon launches Subscribe and Save program to help sellers increase conversion rates

On December 23, it was reported that Amazon recently announced the launch of the Subscribe and Save program.

Starting from December 18, 2019, all eligible products will be automatically registered for the Subscribe & Save program. When buyers purchase 5 or more related products at one time, they can receive an automatic 5% discount, and the cost of the discount will be borne by Amazon.

In the parliamentary vote on the afternoon of December 20th, UK time, Johnson's government's Brexit agreement bill was passed

The British parliament voted on December 20 in the afternoon, and the Johnson government's Brexit agreement bill was passed by the British House of Commons with 358 votes to 234. This means that if nothing unexpected happens, the UK will leave the EU on January 31, 2020.

The bill also prohibits extending the Brexit transition period after 2020, which means that the UK needs to reach a new trade agreement with the EU within 11 months. The bill is currently undergoing further scrutiny in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

On January 7-8, 2020, MPs will debate and vote on any amendments to the Brexit Bill, completing the proceedings in the House of Commons on January 9.

I learned from the editor that in the early general election held on December 12, the Conservative Party won a landslide victory, winning 365 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, more than half.

The Conservative Party won an overwhelming victory with an 80-vote lead, changing the chaotic situation in the British Parliament over the past three years. After Johnson came to power, he probably felt that Brexit was a foregone conclusion because of his tough stance on Brexit.